England concern over Flintoff

ANDREW Flintoff will undergo a scan on his injured hip tomorrow but England are sufficiently concerned about his fitness to have called up two players as cover. Flintoff, 31, has a suspected muscle tear in his right hip but has not been ruled out of bowling today if required in England's bid to win the the third Test in Antigua.

ANDREW Flintoff will undergo a scan on his injured hip tomorrow but England are sufficiently concerned about his fitness to have called up two players as cover.

The Lancashire all-rounder has a suspected muscle tear in his right hip but has not been ruled out of bowling today if required in England's bid to win the the third Test in Antigua.

In the meantime, fellow all-rounder Ravi Bopara and uncapped pace bowler Amjad Khan have both been summoned from England Lions' tour of New Zealand to bolster the Test party here.

“They are coming because Fred has hurt himself and will be here as soon as possible,” said assistant coach Andy Flower.

“People will have seen yesterday that he cannot move properly because of some problem in his hip. There is a limit to how much we know about the injury at this stage but he is going to give bowling a go.

“He is struggling to get it through at full pace but if we need him he will bowl.”

With back to back Tests in Barbados and Trinidad starting next Thursday, however, Flintoff's latest injury setback is a blow to England's hopes of overturning their current series deficit.

He only began the campaign after passing a fitness test on a left side strain.

“He knows his body very well and he will feel whether he can do the job,” said Flower.

“Even at three-quarter pace he can still do a job for us. But it's finding a balance between winning the Test and not doing any lasting damage.

“We don't know what the injury is at this stage and an MRI scan will give us more information.

“The medical guys think there might be a little tear there, they're not sure, but it is a muscle problem in his hip.”

Meanwhile, overnight and early morning rain hit England's bid to claim the seven wickets required to win the third Test.

Groundstaff worked to dry the outfield but the final day, which West Indies start on 143-3, was delayed significantly.

And once play got underway Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul extended their fourth-wicket alliance to three figures as the West Indies reached lunch on 196-3.

Both Lancashire's James Anderson and Steve Harmison beat the bat in the opening overs but Sarwan brought up his latest half-century from 104 balls, in the sixth over of the morning.

Off-spinner Graeme Swann also created a couple of moments of discomfort but skipper Andrew Strauss was late on a prod down the pitch from Sarwan, who then survived an appeal for a bat-pad catch on 68.